The presidents of the five former Soviet Central Asian republics gathered on September 14 in the Tajik capital ahead of the upcoming Central Asia-US summit at the level of heads of state, which is expected to be held on September 19-20 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Today and tomorrow the fifth consultative meeting of the presidents of the five Central Asian countries will be held in Dushanbe.
The press service of the President of Tajikistan reported that before the start of the consultative meeting, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held bilateral negotiations with his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov. They discussed issues of developing cooperation between the two countries, which have been in strained relations for more than two years due to border conflicts.
Akorda reported today that the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived on a working visit to Dushanbe. At a meeting with his Tajik colleague, he discussed “the state and prospects for the development of bilateral relations.”
Last year, a similar consultative meeting of the presidents of five countries was held in Cholpon-Ata (Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan). Then Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan concluded the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood and Cooperation for the Development of Central Asia in the 21st Century. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are expected to sign this document at the current meeting, notes the Tajik edition of Azattyk – Radio Ozodi.
News of the C5+1 meeting in the second half of September in New York at the level of heads of state comes against the backdrop of ongoing Russian military aggression against Ukraine and evidence of the supply of dual-use products to Russia by Kazakh and Kyrgyz companies. The Biden administration has not officially announced the upcoming meeting, but experts are confident that the meeting will discuss compliance with sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kazakh senior officials have stated that Kazakhstan will not allow its territory to be used to circumvent international sanctions. President Tokayev has promised not to violate international sanctions imposed against Russia due to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with the Russian TV channel Rossiya 24, broadcast on June 15, 2022, Tokayev said that his country continues to cooperate “intensively” with Russian authorities, but added that “sanctions are sanctions.”
